KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) does not see the haze prolonging till March as the northeast monsoon season, beginning next month, would bring heavy rainfall.
Its director-general, Datuk Che Gayah Ismail, said the northeast monsoon season would also cause the wind to blow away from the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak.
“The wind during this monsoon season will blow from the sea.
“We are certain that no matter how bad the burning is in Indonesia, it will not come Malaysia’s way,” Che Gayah told the New Straits Times yesterday, adding that Malaysia could expect some reprieve from the haze on Monday.
“The haze is due to the inter-monsoon season, which is blowing the smog this way.”
The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said the haze was due to the effects of cyclones caused by the El Nino phenomenon, and if the northeast monsoon season came on time, the change in wind patterns might bring some reprieve by mid-November.
The ministry yesterday also issued a statement to dismiss fake viral Air Pollutant Index (API) readings and news on a “yellow haze” phenomenon circulating via WhatsApp and social media.
It said throughout the period, the Department of Environment (DoE) monitored the haze and the exposure of carbon monoxide had been below the Recommended Malaysia Air Quality Guidelines, which is less than 30 parts per million (ppm) per hour or 35 microgram per meter.
“The readings of the carbon monoxide were below the Recommended Malaysia Air Quality Guidelines, and it does not cause the “yellow haze” phenomenon.”
As of 5pm yesterday, 25 areas recorded unhealthy API readings, but all the readings were below 200 with Port Klang recording the highest API reading at 178.
Environmental Health and Research fellow from the United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health, Professor Dr Jamal Hisham Hashim, in explaining the seemingly “yellowish” haze, said it was possibly due to light absorption from other particles, which accumulated in the current stagnant air.
Besides the haze, he said, the air was filled with nitrogen oxide, which comes from local air pollutants such motor vehicles’ fumes.
“The nitrogen oxide can block blue and violet lights from the visible light spectrum, allowing only yellow and red colours through.
“The air is stagnant and whatever we produce will accumulate in the air,” he said adding that the “yellowish haze was unlikely to be toxic as it was only a light phenomenon”. Additional reporting by Tasnim Lokman and Beatrice Nita Jay